PRINCETON — While next Saturday’s primetime showdown with Syracuse looms large on the horizon, the first order of business for the Princeton lacrosse team is always the Ivy League.

The Tigers didn’t forget that Saturday, dispatching a quality Brown Bears team 15-8 on a gorgeous early spring afternoon at the Class of 1952.

For three quarters, at least, the story of the game was the Princeton defense. After falling behind 2-1 early in the first quarter, the Tigers didn’t let the Bears score again until early in the fourth — a span of nearly 40 minutes.

“We won face-offs early, which gave us ball possession,” said coach Chris Bates, referencing the fact that face-off specialist Justin Murphy won 9 of 11 before the half. “I thought we had an opportunity to pull away even more, but we turned the ball over too much in the first half to separate ourselves.”

After Froccaro found younger brother Jake in front of the net for a score to start the fourth, however, things got a little more interesting than Princeton would have liked. The Brown offense, which had struggled all game to create scoring opportunities, rattled off four goals in less than three minutes.

“We gave up the goals that we were afraid we were going to give up more of early,” Bates said. “They scrap and claw and create funky goals off face-offs and transition situations.”

Compounding the issue was the fact that Murphy suddenly seemed to lose his touch in the face-off circle, winning just 4 of 12 in the final period.

“We turned the ball over too much in the beginning of the fourth quarter and then they won pretty much all their face-offs,” said Jeff Froccaro, a senior midfielder and preseason honorable mention All-America. “Justin Murphy has been great otherwise, but they just had the ball more than us and eventually you are going to score if you have the ball.”

That flurry cut the lead to just 11-6 with the momentum all on Brown’s side and more than 10 minutes still left to play.

Three minutes later, however, Jake Froccaro tallied his third goal of the game, righting the Princeton ship. Jeff banged home two more for good measure, ensuring that despite the scare, the Tigers left with a win.

“He’s just got that desire and knack to put the ball in the back of the net, and that’s what he does,” Bates said of Jeff Froccaro. “Anytime Brown got a little momentum, Jeff stood tall and got stopped them for us.”

Jeff finished with four goals and an assist, while Jake notched his first career hat trick. Schrieber — a preseason first-team All-America — added two goals and three assists. Alex Jones led the Bears with three tallies.

With the win, Princeton improves to 6-2 overall and 2-1 in the league, good for second behind the 3-0 Cornell Big Red.

Now that the Bears are out of the way, Princeton can focus on perhaps the most anticipated game on its schedule — its late-April matchup with Cornell at MetLife Stadium notwithstanding. The game against the Orange won’t be played at the Class of 1952 Stadium but rather the larger Princeton Stadium, which should make for a unique game day atmosphere.

“It’s a historical game, and there is tradition to the game that you can’t avoid,” Bates said. “It’s a game guys get excited for. Even in the locker room, guys are like ‘it’s ’Cuse week’ and are up for it. Its one of those opportunities to get a big out of conference win at this time of year, which is unique.”